Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Eight of Cups – The strength of an open heart

Although it
wasn't my intention to really start working
with this deck, it did arouse my curiosity and perhaps it is a good deck
for the beginning of this month. It might also be a good companion on my journey to explore my inner landscapes: “The landscapes of the abyss.”

So for
today another eight; the Eight of Cups. Instead of a person leaving eight
cups, we see a young child with the skin of a lion, draped over his shoulders.
The combination of opposites reminds me of the Strength card. Real strength
comes from an open and truthful heart rather than from anger and vengeance

So if you
are to face obstacles and stressful situations, it is wise to approach it with
and open heart instead of being totally shut down and on guard

That way
you stay true to who you really are and from this comes inner strength,
confidence and self-reliance which will
be shining in your eyes, and permeate your
demeanor like the sun on the
child’s wrist

Easier said
than done, since I am inclined to close all the shutters in times of trouble.
It seems to me this card is showing me the right attitude to open the door from the Eight
of Swords and meet the one in the tower. Perhaps it is this child I will meet
there….

8 comments:

It is so easy to shut down my heart instead of leaving it open, especially when I've had a painful experience. This card has a shamanic feel to it - instead of pretending to be a lion, he is becoming the lion.

Having an open heart has always been important to me, though after having it broken one too many times, I learned to be over protective, emotionally detached and cut off from my heart, which isn't so helpful, because I think it actually left me more vulnerable. Reconnecting with my open heart didn't mean I was gullible, naive and too trusting. It meant I found strength in my weakness. Today I love my open heart and am drawn to others with the same.

As you've said often having an open heart is seen as being too trusting, naive etc. and honestly I thought so too. Having protected and shielded myself out of fear of being hurt (again) has left me empty and just a much afraid. Being vulnerable is scary, feels naked, maybe with this lion skin I can try again????

I enjoy how you pick up on Strength in this card, which does make a lot of sense for the 8 of Cups. The Mary-El is my husband's deck and I don't use it very often. The art is often stunning, but for instance, this card as the 8 of Cups took me some time to tap into. I like reading your perspective!

Thank you Olivia. I try to read it as intuitive as I can. When I compare it with the standard meanings I tend to feel a bit lost. Of course you do need strength to approach life in a whole different and open minded way which the RW version of this card is all about :)

Hmm, I guess I see the connection to a more traditional Eight of Cups in the idea of seeking a higher truth. By tapping into his lion heart, and being guided in his actions by the light of the star, our inner child can move towards something truer to our higher purpose, perhaps… :)

I agree with you on that. I like how there is now right and wrong in tarot.everyone can focus on a different aspect of the card in question. Of course we do have to take the traditional card meaning into consideration when we let our thoughts roam free :D